Well,
it turns out that House Democrats just may fulfill a promise this year after
all. Unfortunately for the security of our nation, however, it is Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) promise to gut legislation passed just 26 days
ago to close the terrorist loophole in our surveillance laws and modernize the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Before
Congress left for its August recess, House Republicans succeededin beating back Democratic attempts to kill legislation aimed at
modernizing outdated laws that prevented
American intelligence personnel from listening to foreign terrorists. In an
attempt to save face after their loss and satisfy activists on the far left,
Democratic
congressional leaders pledged to begin gutting these reforms soon after Congress
returned in September.

Yesterday, House Judiciary
Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) made good on that promise, announcing
that his panel will hold a hearing on FISA next Wednesday “at House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) request,” according to a release. Conyers’
announcement comes as a front-page story in today’s Washington
Post entitled “Terrorism Policies Split
Democrats” shows a sharp division in Democratic ranks over Speaker Pelosi and
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) attempts to expand terrorist rights
and rank-and-file Democratic Members’ aims to take a tough stand against
terrorism:

“Reid and Pelosi
promised last week that they would at least confront the president next month
over his wiretapping program, with Pelosi taking an uncompromising stand in a
private conference call with House Democrats. When lawmakers return in
September, Democrats will also push legislation to restore habeas corpus rights
for terrorism suspects and may resume an effort to close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“But conservative
Democrats and some party leaders continue to worry that taking on those issues
would expose them to Republican charges that they are weak on terrorism. And
advocates of a strong push on the terrorism issues are increasingly skeptical
that they can prevail.”

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Well,
it turns out that House Democrats just may fulfill a promise this year after
all. Unfortunately for the security of our nation, however, it is Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) promise to gut legislation passed just 26 days
ago to close the terrorist loophole in our surveillance laws and modernize the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Before
Congress left for its August recess, House Republicans succeededin beating back Democratic attempts to kill legislation aimed at
modernizing outdated laws that prevented
American intelligence personnel from listening to foreign terrorists. In an
attempt to save face after their loss and satisfy activists on the far left,
Democratic
congressional leaders pledged to begin gutting these reforms soon after Congress
returned in September.

Yesterday, House Judiciary
Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) made good on that promise, announcing
that his panel will hold a hearing on FISA next Wednesday “at House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) request,” according to a release. Conyers’
announcement comes as a front-page story in today’s Washington
Post entitled “Terrorism Policies Split
Democrats” shows a sharp division in Democratic ranks over Speaker Pelosi and
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) attempts to expand terrorist rights
and rank-and-file Democratic Members’ aims to take a tough stand against
terrorism:

“Reid and Pelosi
promised last week that they would at least confront the president next month
over his wiretapping program, with Pelosi taking an uncompromising stand in a
private conference call with House Democrats. When lawmakers return in
September, Democrats will also push legislation to restore habeas corpus rights
for terrorism suspects and may resume an effort to close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“But conservative
Democrats and some party leaders continue to worry that taking on those issues
would expose them to Republican charges that they are weak on terrorism. And
advocates of a strong push on the terrorism issues are increasingly skeptical
that they can prevail.”